• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 1989

Two rhyolitic rocks were taken at punggog of the Jangseong sheet in the Taebaegsan mineralized area and isotopically dated by K-Ar whole rock method. One is a rhyolite which gives $62.69{\pm}1.15Ma$ and the other is a rhyolitic tuff which gives $51.67{\pm}6.64Ma$, respectively. Generally K-Ar whole rock ages of the volcanic rocks can be assumed to be the formation age of them, if there is no geological criterion of secondary effects. But the two rhyolitic rocks were slightly hydrothermally altered and the age the rhyolitic tuff is a little younger than that of the rhyolite. However, there is no geological criterion to show any big hiatus between them in field, yet. Therefore, the age data would be interpreted, as that the rhyolitic rock mass has been probably extruded at about 60 Ma, a little older than 60 Ma, in the area. The ages of them probably appear to be secondary ages after the alteration. This fact well coincides with the K-Ar whole rock age of quartz-porphyry ($57.25{\pm}0.89Ma$) distributed near the 1st Yeonhwa Pb-Zn mine (Park et al., personal comm.), because the quartz-porphyry look to be a product of hydrothermal alteration of the volcanic rock.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.625-633
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• 2014

The Aquistore project is the world's first commercial capture, transportation, utilization and storage project of post-combustion $CO_2$ from a coal-fired thermo electric power plant, and the proposed storage is a saline aquifer at a depth of about 3,500 m. Deep saline aquifer, compared to hydrocarbon reservoir, provides the great volumetric potential for storage of $CO_2$ anywhere in the world, therefore the research results from the project may be exported globally to other sites. Geological $CO_2$ storage characterization for saline aquifer instead of hydrocarbon reservoir needs to estimate the geophysical properties of subsurface geology. This study calculated the geophysical property of water-saturated formation by applying amplitude variation analysis developed from oil and gas exploration. We correlated horizon tops at the well logs to seismic traveltime of 1,815 and 1,857 ms as Winnipeg and Deadwood formations. Gradient analysis from seismic traces showed correlation coefficient of 45 - 81 % on amplitude variation with respect to incident angle. Crossplot of intercept and gradient shows the inverse proportional trend which represents typical water saturated sediments. Product attribute of intercept and gradient described the base of wet sediment. Poisson's ratio change attribute increased at the top of target area satisfying with wet sediment and decreased at the top of basement in a dry rock bed.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2005

Three types of clinopyroxenes in alkali basaltic rocks from Jeju Island can be identified on the basis of geochemical and textural data. Type Ⅰ is Cr-rich diopside in spinel peridotites from the upper mantle. Type Ⅱ is augite in fine-grained pyroxenites which are possibly either magmatic vein or metamorphic segregations owing to anatexis of the upper mantle. The augite of Type Ⅱ contains high Ca and Mg and relatively low Ti. Type Ⅲ is thought to be either cumulates or cognate phenocrysts and can be subdivided into Ⅲa, Ⅲb, and Ⅲc based on their occurrence mode. Clinopyroxenes of Type Ⅰ have the highest Mg# and Si and the lowest Ti, whereas those of Type Ⅲhave lower Mg#와 Si and higher Ti. These geochemical characteristics indicate that (Ti+Al/sup Ⅵ/)/Si and Al/sup Ⅵ//Al/sup Ⅵ/ increase from Type Ⅰ to Type Ⅲ. It is possibly interpreted that Type Ⅰ is of the highest pressure origin and Type Ⅲ of the lowest. Fractionation of high-pressure clinopyroxenes would result in evolved undersaturated alkali-enriched liquids, probably producing the alkali-enriched host basaltic rocks in Jeju Island.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.631-640
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• 2018

To understand the formation and evolution of a sedimentary basin in basin analysis and modelling studies, it is important to analyze the thickness and age range of sedimentary layers infilling a basin. Because the compaction effect reduces the thickness of sedimentary layers during burial, basin modelling studies typically restore the reduced thickness using the relation of porosity and depth (compaction trend). Based on the compilation plots of published compaction trends of representative sedimentary rocks (sandstone, shale and carbonate), this study estimates the compaction trend ranges with exponential curves and equations. Numerical analysis of sedimentary compaction is performed to evaluate the variation of porosity and layer thickness with depth at key curves within the compaction trend ranges. In sandstone, initial porosity lies in a narrow range and decreases steadily with increasing depth, which results in relatively constant thickness variations. For shale, the porosity variation shows two phases which are fast reduction until ~2,000 m in depth and slow reduction at deeper burial, which corresponds to the thickness variation pattern of shale layers. Carbonate compaction is characterized by widely distributed porosity values, which results in highly varying layer thickness with depth. This numerical compaction analysis presents quantitatively the characteristics of porosity and layer thickness variation of each lithology, which influence on layer thickness reconstruction, subsidence and thermal effect analyses to understand the basin formation and evolution. This work demonstrates that the compaction trend is an important factor in basin modelling and underlines the need for appropriate application of porosity data to produce accurate analysis outcomes.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.303-314
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• 2019

Surface permeability and shallow geological structures play significant roles in shaping the groundwater recharge of shallow aquifers. Surface permeability can be characterized by two concepts, intrinsic permeability and hydraulic conductivity, with the latter obtained from previous near-surface geological investigations. Here we propose a hydraulic equation via the cross-correlation analysis of the rainfall-groundwater levels using a regression equation that is based on the cross-correlation between the grain size distribution curve for unconsolidated sediments and the rainfall-groundwater levels measured in the Gyeongju area, Korea, and discuss its application by comparing these results to field-based aquifer test results. The maximum cross-correlation equation between the hydraulic conductivity derived from Zunker's observation equation in a sandy alluvial aquifer and the rainfall-groundwater levels increases as a natural logarithmic function with high correlation coefficients (0.95). A 2.83% difference between the field-based aquifer test and root mean square error is observed when this regression equation is applied to the other observation wells. Therefore, rainfall-groundwater level monitoring data as well as aquifer test are very useful in estimating hydraulic conductivity.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Earthquake can change underground stress condition around the hypocenter and affect the fracture systems of the rocks. In Korea, the M5.8 Gyeongju earthquake on September 12, 2016 and M5.4 Pohang earthquake on November 15, 2017 occurred inside the Yangsan fault zone and possibly affected the fracture systems in the Yangsan fault zone and nearby rock masses. In this study, the characteristics of the fracture system (fracture orientation, number of the fractures, fracture spacing and aperture, dip angle, fracture density along depth, and relative rock strength) of the rocks in the low/intermediate level radioactive waste repository site located in the coastal area of the East Sea are analyzed by the impact of the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes using acoustic televiewer data taken from the boreholes at the radioactive waste repository site in 2005 and 2018. As a result of acoustic televiewer logging analysis, the fracture numbers, fracture aperture, and fracture density along depth overall increased in 2018 comparing to those in 2005. This increase tendency may be due to changes in the fracture system due to the impact of the earthquakes, or due to weathering of the wall of the boreholes for a long period longer than 10 years after the installation of the boreholes in 2005. In the borehole KB-14, on the whole, the orientation of the fractures and the average fracture spacing are slightly different between 2005 and 2018, while dip angle and relative rock strength in 2005 and 2018 are similar each other.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.513-527
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• 2018

We have carried out granulometry and component analysis on pyroclastic deposits of the Maljandeung Tuff, Ulleung Island, to interpret the eruption types and prime dynamic mechanisms. It is divided into three members in the extracaldera area, each of which comprises the lithofacies of coarse tuffs and lapillistones in the lower part, and pumice deposits in upper one. The lithofacies present quantitative evidences in the granularity and component distribution patterns. As compared to the pumice deposits, the coarse tuffs and lapillistones exhibit a relative increase in both the lithic/juvenile and the crystal/juvenile ratios, and a preferential fragmentation of the juvenile fraction. The abundance of lithics and crystals in the tuffs and lapillistones can be attributed to preferential fragmentation of the aquifer-hosting rocks due to explosive evaporation of ground water, and indirect enrichment in lithics and crystals due to removal of juvenile fines from eruptive cloud. The above data exhibit that early phreatopmagmatic phase was followed by purely magmatic fragmentation phases. The coarse tuffs and lapillistones suggest phreatoplinian eruption derived from explosive interaction of magma with ground water near the conduit, while pumice deposits indicate magmatic eruption by magmatic explosion from juvenile gas pressure. In early stage, phreatoplinian eruption occurred from explosive magma/water interaction in connecting confining water with drawdown of the magma column in the conduit; Later it shifted to plinian eruption by explosive expansion of only magmatic volatiles in intercepting water influx due to higher magmatic gas pressure than confining water pressure with rising of the magma column in the conduit.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.165-175
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• 2022

Earthquakes have occurred owing to movements on a fault since several billion years ago. Research on the relationship between earthquakes and groundwater began in the 1960s in the United States, but related works, including hydrogeochemistry research, only began in the 2010s in South Korea. In this study, domestic studies on the relationship between earthquakes and groundwater until 2021 were collected from the Web of Science and characterized by subject area (groundwater level, hydrogeochemistry, combination of the two, and others). The results showed that the number of published articles per year was positively correlated with the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, and 2017 Pohang earthquake, with the maximum numbers observed in 2011, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Most studies on the relationship between earthquakes and groundwater level addressed groundwater level fluctuations in the duration of the subject earthquake, with little consideration of the precursors. Groundwater level monitoring data, as well as hydrogeochemical information and microbial communities, may contribute to a more detailed understanding of groundwater flow and chemical reactions in bedrock caused by earthquakes. Therefore, the establishment of a national groundwater monitoring network for seismic monitoring and prediction is required.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.701-718
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• 2021

Geological field surveys and a series of laboratory tests were conducted to obtain data related to landslides in Sancheok-myeon, Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea where many landslides occurred in the summer of 2020. The magnitudes of various factors' influence on landslide occurrence were evaluated using logistic regression analysis and an artificial neural network. Undisturbed specimens were sampled according to landslide occurrence, and dynamic cone penetration testing measured the depth of the soil layer during geological field surveys. Laboratory tests were performed following the standards of ASTM International. To solve the problem of multicollinearity, the variation inflation factor was calculated for all factors related to landslides, and then nine factors (shear strength, lithology, saturated water content, specific gravity, hydraulic conductivity, USCS, slope angle, and elevation) were determined as influential factors for consideration by machine learning techniques. Minimum-maximum normalization compared factors directly with each other. Logistic regression analysis identified soil depth, slope angle, saturated water content, and shear strength as having the greatest influence (in that order) on the occurrence of landslides. Artificial neural network analysis ranked factors by greatest influence in the order of slope angle, soil depth, saturated water content, and shear strength. Arithmetically averaging the effectiveness of both analyses found slope angle, soil depth, saturated water content, and shear strength as the top four factors. The sum of their effectiveness was ~70%.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.42-56
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• 2023

In deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the natural barrier must physically support the disposal facility and delay the movement of radionuclides for at least hundreds of thousands of years. To evaluate the long-term geological evolution of the natural barriers, it is essential to analyze the long-term behavior of rock joints, including the frictional healing behavior. This study aimed to experimentally analyze the frictional healing behavior of rock joints under hydro-mechanical (H-M) conditions through the slide-hold-slide (SHS) test. The SHS tests were performed under mechanical and H-M conditions for joint specimens of different roughness. In the H-M conditions, the frictional healing rate tended to increase, which was more evident in the specimens with large roughness. In addition, it was confirmed that the effect of the hydro-mechanical conditions was more significant when the effective normal stress acting on the joint surface was small. These results are expected to be used as fundamental data to understand the frictional healing behavior of rock joints in the natural barriers.